England's new team director Andy Flower has warned his star players that they will have to get used to being rotated to remain fresh, such are the year-round demands on modern cricketers.

Ahead of a hectic summer that includes a series against West Indies and the World Twenty20 even before attention turns to the Ashes, Flower said "calculated periods of rest" would be necessary.

"It's an incredibly busy year. Almost straight after the season finishes we go to a one-day tournament and then we've got the South African tour. So we're going to have to very carefully manage people's workloads, both in practice, in training, in the gym and on the field."

The squad for the first Test against West Indies is due to be announced by the end of the month, and following his appointment to the full-time role this week, Flower revealed that it was not only his fast bowlers who might be asked to take an enforced break.

"These are all things I'll have to discuss with the captain and selectors. I don't want to be too bold right now, but I think it's only sensible to rotate ­players. Sometimes you need mental and emotional breaks as well as physical ones. Certainly, the physical workload on our fast bowlers is heavy," he said.

Flower was appointed to the team director role full time after ­winning plaudits for pulling together a divided dressing room in the Caribbean and forming a good working relationship with captain Andrew Strauss. He stepped up from the position of ­assistant coach, to which he was appointed in 2007, in the wake of the split between former captain Kevin Pietersen and his predecessor Peter Moores that cost both of them their jobs. "I am my own man. I will bring my own stamp to the job," he promised this week after his appointment was announced at Lord's.

In the West Indies, he immediately made his presence felt by introducing a heavy programme of physical conditioning work, the results of which he said were starting to pay off and would yield benefits throughout the long season.

"It was well worth doing. The physical side is very closely linked to the mental side. You do that hard work, and through that a lot of your mental toughness can be found as well. Through that principle we will build a strong team."

Flower, who played 63 Tests for ­Zimbabwe and was named the world's best batsman in 2001, said he felt a debt to England for giving him a home after he left the country in the wake of his high profile protest against the "death of democracy" under Robert Mugabe at the 2003 World Cup.

"I've always had access to a British passport. After I finished playing in ­Zimbabwe and came to Essex I feel indebted to ­England for taking me and my ­family in. I am very proud to be given this ­position and this responsibility."

Flower said he had consulted Moores about whether he should apply for the full time role. He insisted that believes the potentially ­combustible combination of strong characters in the England dressing room was a positive rather than a negative and said he was determined to replicate the exploits of the 2005 Ashes-winning side.

"It was one of the best and most exciting bits of cricket I've ever watched. I remember warming up for Essex at Southend and we halted the warm-up to watch the finale of the Edgbaston Test on this tiny little TV and we were all ­shouting for England to win. They were brilliant memories, and we want to ­create some of those memories ourselves."